At FPL, environmental excellence is a core value of our company - and a key part of our commitment to the safe and efficient operation of all our facilities. Our goal is always to protect public health, safety, and the environment.
Nuclear power plants have one of the lowest impacts on the environment of any energy source. They not only avoid the burning of fossil fuels-emitting virtually no air pollution-but they also isolate waste from the environment and use little land for production purposes.
Because of nuclear power's ability to provide large-scale amounts of electricity without emitting greenhouse gases, state and federal policymakers recognize it as a necessary source of safe, reliable energy that can help address global warming while meeting our nation's growing energy demand.
Already, FPL's St. Lucie and Turkey Point nuclear power plants provide more than 20 percent of our total electricity output, while preventing millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year, the equivalent of taking millions of cars off the road. The new units at Turkey Point would avoid an additional 255 million tons of CO2 emissions over the life of the project.
Our efforts to improve nesting opportunities at the Turkey Point site have played an integral role in the growth of the once-endangered American crocodile population. While there were only one or two nests and 30 hatchlings around the Turkey Point cooling canal system in the late 1970s, today there are approximately 22 nests and about 400 crocodiles living within the plant’s cooling canal system at any given time.
FPL initiated a comprehensive crocodile monitoring program in the early 1980s, consisting of:
FPL has undertaken several important activities at the Turkey Point site to further enhance nesting opportunities and to promote the survival of young crocodile hatchlings, including:
Maintenance of FPL's 13,500-acre Everglades Mitigation Bank, located immediately south and west of the Turkey Point site, provides additional habitat protection for the crocodile.
Economic and Community Benefits
Innovative Water Conservation Plan
The Turkey Point Units 6 & 7 project would continue FPL's longstanding commitment to protecting local wetlands.